Lost Soul to Nereid
by ShiningWind
Summary: I finally put up the second part! This is a Tales of Destiny II fic. It deals with Shizel, and how she felt before, during, and after Nereid's control. This is sort of what I think of her, so expect that in the story. Please read and review!
1. Part One

Lost Soul to Nereid

(A/N: This has been revised only to make the tenses the same throughout the whole story.  This is a two-part fic about Shizel and what she was like when not under Nereid's control.  It may not be what you think she is like because this is sort of my perception of Shizel.  This was originally going to cover the whole scene, but I decided it would be way too long.  Is Hyades Shizel's brother?  Oh well, then I just made it up.  I don't own Tales of Destiny II so you can't sue me.)

Part One: Before Nereid's Control

We were a nice family, Balir, Meredy and I, and we lived in great peace.  My husband had come here twenty years ago from the Bridge of Light.  When I met him, I fell in love with him easily.  He was a great man, caring and protective.  We had a child, Meredy, who was charming and beautiful.  We almost had the perfect life in Luishka.  Except for one thing.

Balir was an Inferian.  Yes, he didn't have an Elara or the hair over his body.  Many people hated him and thought he was evil.  They didn't think that he could love Celestia just like any of us could.  They believed that he wanted to take over Celestia for himself.  Instead Balir wanted peace.  Peace between Inferia and Celestia.

I was with Meredy now, escaping from our home in Luishka.  Birial and his soldiers had come and surrounded our home, trying to execute us as "traitors".  Those bastards!  Trying to break up an innocent family with lies.  Lies!  Balir was still inside the home.  Meredy and I escaped through the window.  I called Galenos for help.  The only thing he could do was give us a safe home in Imen.  But Balir…

Hyades was outside the house waiting.  "Uncle!" Meredy shouts happily.  Good, I thought.  We may have some help and Balir may not die!

"Oh…Hyades!  We are in trouble.  Balir is…" I said anxiously.

"I know," he replied.  He was just standing there.

"Then please!  Call for reinforcements," I shouted at him.  I was angry that he hadn't done anything to help Balir.  My brother Hyades, who once was a great man, was not helping his brother-in-law in time of need?

"You still don't get it, do you?!" someone said from nearby.  I turned to see Birial.  The betrayer.  The one man I hated madly.

"You are…?!  Birial?!  What is the meaning of this?" I said, screaming at him.  Anger had engulfed me.  I was barely sane.  All this was coming from that one man.

"Hyades is an excellent man.  Once the traitor Balir is dead, we will rule this land," said Birial.

"Are you betraying us, Hyades?!" I said.  My brother!  What had gotten in him?  Betraying his family members for a lie!

"Grab them!" commanded Birial.  Soldiers came and grabbed my child and me.  I tried to fight them, but I was physically weakened from fighting the other soldiers earlier.  They dragged us inside, into the main hall.

"Balir!"  Birial shouted, tauntingly.  "Come out if you do not wish harm to come to Shizel and Meredy!"

No!  I screamed mentally.  You're going to be killed!  Don't my love!

Balir came in anyway.  "Balir!"  My daughter and I shouted.

"…Such good girls," said Birial.  He had the most evil look spread across his face.

Pleading, Balir said, "Please…Let them go."  But the only answer he received was a cold glare from Birial.

"Hmm?  Finally…the time has come to unmask the man who bullied the throne and reveal the evil-doer beneath," said Birial.  "What's wrong?  You have many regrets for someone who is always prattling on about the material world, no?"  Hatred for Balir burned brighter than fire in his eyes.

"Don't worry about me.  Balir!  Run!"  I cried out.  I couldn't stand it if my love died for me.

Balir solemnly replied, "I cannot."  Stop being an idiot!  I wanted to scream at him.  I struggled under the grip of the soldiers over me.  It resulted in the tightening of the grip.

"You filfth!  Unhand me!" I shouted out.

"KILL…KILL…!  Kill them all!" shouted Birial, insanely full of hatred.

The soldiers fired at me.  I was ready to die, but Balir ran in front of me.  He took all the shots for me.  "BALIR?!  Balir!  Balir!  Oh, please!"  I screamed in anguish.  It was so horrible how he was brutally murdered in front of me.

He said softly, "…Shi…zel.  What you see with your eyes…is not…all…"

"Shh…Say no more, Balir.  I…understand!" I replied.  I would achieve his goals in his honor.  One day…one day we could both rest in peace.

"Our ideal world…is one that lies beyond what you can touch…" uttered my dying husband with his last bit of life.

"Ohhh, Balir!" I cried.  I mourn over his body, tears streaming down my face like unending waterfalls.

The soldiers hadn't been moved at all.  "Prepare to fire!" they shouted.  "FIRE!"

Their bullets pierced through my very existence.  Each one hurt more than the previous.  "Aaaaaaugh…!" I cried out.  The pain was unbearable.  Balir didn't deserve this.  I didn't deserve this.  But most of all, Meredy didn't deserve this fate.  She was totally innocent.  And to harm an innocent child!  I would do anything to save my child!

"Entrust thy heart to mine…" a voice whispered.  Time seemed to freeze for a moment.  Then suddenly I was engulfed in dark light.  I had no more control over myself.  I had been claimed by darkness.

(A/N: Ahhh…did you like it?  The next part will be up soon; maybe this year if I work hard enough…um…I still have that novel project to work on for Language Arts…um… Anyway, please review!  I may decide to write more then.)


	2. Part Two

Lost Soul to Nereid

(A/N: Wow, this took me about a month to write!  This is the second part of a two-part fic about Shizel and what she was like under Nereid's control.  It may not be what you think she is like because this is sort of my perception of Shizel.  Anyway, I screwed a lot more with this one and so it may not be as correct as the other one.  I don't own Tales of Destiny II or I'd have a lot of money, so you can't sue me.)

Part Two: During/After Nereid's Control

When I was dying, I had truly wished for the world to be destroyed and reborn.  All my anger and hate that I felt evolved into a force of destruction.  That is how Nereid was able to control me.  We both wanted to destroy the world and make a new one: a world without material.  Nereid called it Vatenkeist.  I did not wish for people to suffer like I did from others' jealousy and hatred.  My husband and I wanted a world where people lived peacefully and happily, and they didn't feel pain.

Nereid saved me, but controlled my body and what I did and said.  I was only the shell for him.  I allowed this because I truly did not wish to live.  I felt guilt when my husband died protecting me and I couldn't even save my own child, Meredy.  I didn't believe I had the right to exist.  Not since I was such a failure.

I took control of Celestia soon with my new powers.  I had the most powerful arte at the time, the Aurora Arte.  I unwillingly learned it from studying my own daughter.  No one was able to hurt me at all.  With this power, I was to become the new ruler of the world.  In truth, though, Nereid was to become the new ruler and I would probably be thrown away after he achieved his goal.

I know I was manipulated.  But I did not have the strength, the will, to fight it.  No one convinced me to stop.  I did not see love among the people; only hate, jealousy, and fighting.  When Nereid told me that he needed to absorb the craymels of the world to help his plan work, I obeyed him.  It wasn't as if I could disobey him anyway.  I had no control over my body, so I couldn't have killed myself even if I tried.

I saw my child again for the first time in 10 years at my castle.  She had definitely grown lovely, and she brought three Inferian friends.  One had flaming red hair, crystal blue eyes, and carried a sword.  There was also a green-haired young woman, who had iron fists and monk training.  Lastly, there was an Inferian mage, who had blue hair and was physically weak, but looked intelligent.  They were foolish at the time, thinking they could defeat me with their unrefined talents.  Nereid controlled me then.  He told my daughter that Balir wanted to reborn the world choking on its desires, whose people obsessed over material possessions.  It was the truth, except I think my husband believed humans could change and make themselves better.  Then, after a stupid guy tried to kill me with his gun, Meredy and her friends fought me.

I would have never harmed my child, but I was not myself.  I couldn't be, because Nereid was in control.  He guided my hands and channeled my energy.  Eternal Finality.  Soon they were tired, and almost dead.  Suddenly, a strange looking Inferian knight came into the scene.  Nereid was going to banish them forever, I trying to resist but not strong enough, when the knight blocked the attack with Aurora Wall.  I had never seen such a spell before, but the man's power was weaker than mine.  He collapsed, taking the deadly blow of the impact.  I believed he died protecting Meredy and her friends.  I was left no time to find out, because soon I was warped out of the castle, to another place.

The place I went to was the force that kept the worlds in balance.  Within the Orbus Barrier was the Seyfert Ring.  Going inside the ring was easily done.  I concealed my castle within a cloak of darkness, shielding me as I continued to absorb power from around the world.  The plan was almost perfect.  It would take a great deal of power in order for my castle true form was seen.

Meanwhile, some cannon was being built in Celestia with Craymel power.  Its first shot made the floor shake a bit, but little damage was inflicted overall.  My barrier easily absorbed the force.  Nereid laughed.  He told me that those mortals of Seyfert were too stupid to thwart him.  "It's just a little while until the world is mine!" he declared one lonely evening.  His true laughter rang and terrorized the beasts that roamed the castle.  I was also afraid.

Some while later (I could not recall how many days had gone by), another explosion rocked the castle.  It was worse than the most powerful earthquake.  Everything went flying.  The barrier of darkness vanished in an instant.  Nereid trembled, but dismissed them as a sign of feeling cold.  Inside I knew he was scared.  He tried to reassure himself.  "In order for them to get me, they have to first get through the floor of my castles, with monsters galore and puzzles to test them.  They can't be smart enough, or quick and powerful enough to even touch me," he told himself.  My resolve grew stronger, the more he feared, and I anxiously awaited the battle.  Even if I would die.

The heroes who came were none other than Meredy and her three Inferian friends.  As they climbed the many hallways, Nereid sent his minions to attack them.  They were surprised by the strength of the monsters at first, but soon, when they had encountered more of the same species, they executed their deaths easily with just a few strokes.

The closer they came to his room, the more Nereid trembled.  It was strange to see him frightened of something for being such a powerful force.  I guess he was feeling his mortality for the first time since he broke the seal 10 years ago.  There was also another force that seemed to invade the castle.  The power of the Divine Aurora Arte was in the red-haired swordsman.  It wasn't like that blonde Inferian Knight's power; it was much more complete and dangerous.  Nereid must have realized that the power of Seyfert existed in this young man.

Besides having the skills to easily defeat these monsters, they also had intelligence.  The puzzles were solved after a few observations.  They had finally fused their craymels into the six pillars.  The warp was revealed.  It was time for the final battle.  The real outcome of the battle 2000 years before…

They were standing before me, the four heroes.  The young red-haired man shouted at me, "In the name of Seyfert, I have come to stop the Grand Fall!"

"Heh heh heh.  Too late.  The Dark Fibril will soon reach its completion with Nereid's Fibril," said Nereid with my voice.

The blue-haired mage exclaimed, "What?"

"Hmm...a bearer of Fibrill. The one you call Reid... Can you not feel it?  The powers of Eternia's Craymels are flowing into me!" said Nereid.  The darkness was absorbed from above me.

Shizel will absorb the darkness above her.

After some thinking, the blue-haired mage finally said,"...I understand now.  The Grand Fall's true purpose!"

My daughter asked, "What...do you mean?"

The blue-haired mage replied, "The destructive power of the Aurora Arte is in direct proportion to the amount of Craymel absorbed."

The swordman asked the mage, "You mean she's absorbing the power of the Craymels around the world?"

After a moment, Meredy asked Nereid, "Why complete Dark Fibrill to destroy Eternia?"

Nereid replied, "I shall become...the master, defeat Seyfert, and become the creator of a new world!"

The clueless swordsman asked, "Defeat Seyfert?"

Nereid replied, "Once the Dark Aurora is completed, that too shall be easy.  The events 2000 years back shall be reversed."  I heard his mind saying, "Those stupid mortals!  They don't know anything!"  I knew he trying to reassure himself before the inevitable battle.

The mage asked, "Are you...Nereid?"  He finally seemed to understand that this possibly could not be me.

Nereid replied with sarcasm, "What if I am?"  He was going to toy with them for a little longer.

Meredy asked, "Where is Shizel?"  My daughter understood what had happened to me.  She knew I was under control.

Nereid replied, "Shizel? ...A struggling soul trapped within me.  One shamed by her own actions... May that be her?"  That was the truth, though I was struggling against him.  This was my chance…

My daughter shouted angrily, "That Shizel's body!  Give it back!"

Nereid replied evenly, "Impossible.  It is her hatred for this material world that allows us to unite under one strong will.  Vatenkeist is the world as it should truly be.  Without material matter, jealousy and hatred will cease to exist.  Greed that causes suffering and the grief of losing a loved one will be no more..."

Nereid showed them scenes of dead people, people that they had known well who had died.  He did not weaken their resolve though.  I did not know then why they believed people should suffer this pain, this grief.  How they could think that this grief should be abolished.  This was the one thing that I had agreed with Nereid on.  Jealousy and hatred that sprung from material things caused me the worst pain of all: losing my beloved.

Suddenly the ground shook from underneath us.  The four heroes looked around and noticed the Orbus was moving, and Inferia and Celestia were feeling the side effects.

Nereid laughed evilly, "Heh heh heh... It seems that it has begun."

"Meredy!" the young swordsman shouted as my daughter moved forward, towards my body.

"Shizel is dead.  The one that is here... is our ENEMY!" she exclaimed.

Nereid cast a spell and sent her flying backwards.  The other heroes angered, unsheathing their weapons.  It was time for battle.

My body became a weapon played by Nereid.  The longer I battled, the more pain I felt.  It was cutting through me, and I couldn't take it for very long.  For the heroes attacks were quick and vicious, and against my will I countered the attacks.

Worn out and battered, my body was useless now.  He couldn't use me now.  I fought against his control.  I had a desire for freedom, for peace, for the end of my prolonged life.  I had finally found the strength to sever myself from him.  I had seen the power of the friendship: the friendship between Celestians and Inferians that had conquered hatred and jealousy.  There was a new, stronger force than hatred, I realized.  It was love.

Nereid wasn't so pleased.  "...Ugh. The bug is resisting...An ugly bug," he said.  "What...is this?  What does she desire?"

The young swordsman replied, "Nereid... Don't you understand Shizel's feelings?  If you don't...you can't win."  I was hoping that Nereid could see what I saw, and decide not to fight them.

"What?" exclaimed Nereid.

The young swordsman spoke with strength, defying Nereid like I never could.  "Like you said, Seyfert's world is imperfect.  There are many who live believing in their own justice.  Because of that, endless strife, sorrow, and chaos will always rule.  But!  That's why people can change.  By exploring their differences, they learn and change.  If people can change, the world can change too... We don't need the Grand Fall!" he shouted.

Nereid said, "I see.  So that...is the Divine Aurora."  Then suddenly changing his tone, he exclaimed, "Mwahaha...mwahahaha!  Worthless!"

The young swordsman shouted, "What?"  So Nereid hadn't changed.  He finally showed his true form, which even I had never seen.  He looked like a beast let loose in a stadium.  He had warped us to Vatenkeist.  Bravely the four heroes challenged him.  They challenged his power, his existence.  The battle was long drawn out.

Nereid was almost defeated now.  He had one more spell he cast.  His final attack…one more powerful then the one used against the Inferian knight the first time.  "Aurora Wall!" cried the young swordsman.  Its power smashed into Nereid's attack and overcome it.  The Divine Aurora of love had conquered and won.

I felt Nereid cry his last as he lost control of me.  I was free.  I finally could go to rest with my husband, Balir.

Except I forgot one thing.  During my rejoicing I had forgotten about the worlds.  They were still going to collide, causing thousands of people to perish unnecessarily.  The four heroes were trying to destroy the core within the Seyfert Ring: the power that kept the worlds together.

My daughter tried to use the Dark Aurora.  Due to her inexperience, she did not have much power.  I realized I had one more job to do before I could go.  There was my daughter, trying her hardest to help destroy the core.  She was very tired, and was using too much of her life force.

"...Stand back," I told them.  The young mage had been supporting her.  I could tell that he cared for her deeply.  Well, I thought, this is good for my daughter.  She will find the happiness I was denied.

"Meredy, do not fear," I told her.  "Farewells are not the end.  We will be together for all eternity."

I took her place and used the last of my life to help destroy the core.  My body was exploding, its last powers shooting from my fingers.  "Meredy…" I utter as the core explodes and I too…

The release from pain…it felt wonderful.  As I floated freely within space and time, I found myself peace.  There were no more barriers to overcome.  I had achieved true freedom for myself.  I could finally rest.

(A/N: I hoped you liked it even though it wasn't as good as the first part.  I kept on running out of ideas.  In this part, I had trouble trying to write what I wanted to express.  I tried to make Shizel not seem evil but helpless and at the same time talk about how she did all these terrible things.  I really believed the ending scene showed how much Shizel was like any other human.  So now that I am finished, you should review!  Constructive criticism is welcome.  I hope some good writers will review this and give me help…)


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